By SHERRY HALBROOK
Maybe Jiminy Cricket is right. PEF members’ dreams of a more fair and equitable tier and pension system really are coming true this year as the state Legislature passed a torrent of pension and other key legislation that will benefit PEF members and retirees.

“We thought they would pass something on pensions this year, but no one thought they would go this far. I don’t think most PEF members fully grasp yet just how big this is,” said PEF Legislative Director Brian Curran. “We finally got things from the Legislature that we’ve been trying to get for 20 years.”

There’s something for just about everyone if the governor signs it all into law. Retirees get an annual pension boost to help offset inflation.

If the PS&T contract is ratified, members in Tiers 1 and 2 will get a boost in service credits toward retirement and the burden of contributions to the pension system will be lifted from the backs of long-term members in Tiers 3 and 4.
Veterans get a break on the price of buying service credits.

Nurses get safer needles and job protection for blowing the whistle on shortfalls in patient care.

Other legislation was passed or rejected to benefit members in parole and mental-health services.

But it wasn’t just wishing on stars that made it all happen.

It was the culmination of years of painstaking efforts by PEF on many legislative and political fronts that positioned the union’s issues to take advantage of mounting political pressure and budget surpluses this year, according to Curran and PEF Vice President Ken Brynien.

“In many cases, we started working on the legislation years ago,” Brynien said. “Sometimes we were all alone in the beginning, but gradually we built a small coalition of support and then those coalitions grew bigger and bigger.”

While PEF leaders, legislative staff, political activists and division and labor-management activists worked together to define the union’s positions, draft legislation and build support for it, the union was at work on other fronts, too.

“We have dramatically increased our emphasis on political action in recent years. That increase in political action was an important factor in why we were able to take advantage of the opportunity this year to make so many things happen,” Brynien said.

“We tremendously increased the amount of money we put into political contributions, we increased our direct involvement in political campaigns and we increased the amount of contact our PAC PALs (political liaisons) have with legislators on the issues,” Brynien said.

“We’ve also been building stronger, more effective legislative coalitions with our international unions and the AFL-CIO,” he added.

“It’s great to see it all paying off, at last.”

Bills passed, awaiting gov.’s signature

COLA (S8180/A11460) — This bill provides retired public employees with a permanent and automatic cost-of-living adjustment to their pensions. Pensions will increase each year at half the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Pensions will go up at least 1 percent, but not more than 3 percent per year. The increase will apply only to the first $18,000 of the pension benefit.

The increase applies to:
• retirees age 62 and older who have been retired for at least five years; and to
• retirees ages 55-61 who have been retired for at least 10 years.

Also, beginning September 1, 2000, all retired members who have retired prior to 1997 will be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments. This one-time catch-up provides a supplemental payment equal to 50 percent of the CPI from the member’s year of retirement through 1997.

Members who retired in 1997 or later, if they meet eligibility requirements for age and years retired, will receive their first annual COLA in September, 2001.

This bill still needs to be signed into law by the governor.

Tier Equity (S8130/A11415) — Early-retirement penalties for public employees in pension Tiers 3 and 4 are reduced to the level of penalty for early retirement under Tier 2.

The penalty for early retirement by employees in Tiers 3 and 4 has been as high as 38 percent depending on individual circumstances. Whereas, the maximum penalty in Tier 2 has been 27 percent.

Benefit Enhancements (S8142/A11418) — This legislation, which will apply to PS&T and Roswell Park employees only if they ratify the tentative collective-bargaining agreement, eliminates 3 percent employee pension contributions for members of Tiers 3 & 4 after 10 years of membership in the retirement system.

It also provides one additional month of service for every year of service at a maximum of two years additional credited service for employees in Tiers 1 and 2.

Prior Service Credit (S8129/A11416) — Members of a public-retirement system can receive credit for prior service if that service would have been creditable in a public-retirement system.
The waiting period for receiving that credit is reduced from five years after returning to public employment to two years.

Veterans Buyback Bill (S8101/A11380) — The cost to veterans, who are members of public retirement systems, of buying up to three years of retirement credit for military duty performed during specified periods is reduced to 3 percent of current salary for each year of service that is purchased.

Death Benefits (S8131/A11414) — Certain death benefits will apply to all new members of a public retirement system. Coverage will be by the most advantageous death-benefit option.

Sharps Safety Act (S4936/A7144B) — Health-care facilities must use safer needles and sharp instruments to prevent accidental spread of blood-borne diseases.

Whistleblower (S1453/A3089) — Employers are barred from retaliating against health-care employees who blow the whistle on unsafe health practices.

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